21 October 2013 — World Polio Day is 24 October

QUICK UPDATE

Following up last week’s video interview with Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian, today we received his official weekly newsletter. Take a look for yourself…as our program is profiled all over town by the Council Office with a link to our E-Club’s website.

THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM

World Polio Day is 24 October. It was established over a decade ago by Rotary International and recognized by the United Nations and the World Heath Organization.

Behind the scenes, our Club has been an instrumental part of a multi-Club effort within Rotary District 5280 to obtain a proclamation, from as many cities as we can within the District’s region, formally recognizing World Polio Day in each City and acknowledging the efforts of local Rotary Clubs both in the eradication of polio worldwide and also the efforts we make to help our communities in so many ways right here at home. Our E-Club contacts secured, with support of others, the proclamation from the big one–the City of Los Angeles.

This week, please invest your online meeting time in perusing these polio-related stories and resources, as a reminder of what we have done, what we continue to do (including, of course, our Dance for the Children, which has now cleared $4,500 with some late donations), and what we must continue to do in the future until we have left “this close” behind and replaced it with “Good-Bye, Polio.”

The official END POLIO NOW website (including the World’s Biggest Commercial…watch a few minutes and be amazed…but don’t try the whole thing, happily you’ll be there forever…we are in some photos, but nearly an hour in). Commercial aside, poke around here, there’s a lot of history, a lot of new and useful information, and many resources.

Here is a news story from Rotary about polio efforts in Cote d’Ivoire. Forget the little accent that should go over the O in Cote, getting our website to include it might bring own the internet.

Here is a first-hand story, in the Rotary Blog we’ve visited before on other topics, from the efforts in Cote d’Ivoire.

There’s always more, but let’s leave it here for this week…and continue thinking about ways we can help. Our Club’s major annual endeavor is behind us with the successful and fun Fourth Annual Dance for the Children, but we can always continue to make “this close” be a little closer.

I just like the Rotary pinch. I heard from chatsworth and van nuys and they are pushing through with the food drive this Sunday. Very cool. Maybe we can eradicate food insecurity while we’re at it. This is turning into a wonderful quarter.

It is truly heartening to see how many people and organizations are involved in Polio eradication efforts around the world. The efforts of the world community, as Bill Gates indicated in his interview, are not only unprecendented, but also essential to getting the job done. But most important to the eradication efforts are those brave and dedicated individuals who sometimes take incredible risks to go out, identify and innoculate children in all parts of the world. I am proud to be even a teeny-tiny part of the solution.